Yamada appointed to housing committee

SACRAMENTO -- Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez has appointed Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, D-Davis, former chairwoman of the Yolo County Housing Authority (now known as Yolo County Housing), to serve on the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development.

While Yamada will be stepping down from her role as a member of the Assembly Veterans Committee, an assignment she has held for five years, she said she will continue working on veterans issues in her other committee assignments and through her own policymaking.

"My interest in addressing the issues of housing and homelessness now faced by many veterans -- especially those from our most recent conflicts -- intersects with this new assignment as well as my current role on the Assembly Select Committee on Homelessness," Yamada said in a statement. "I welcome the opportunity to work with Chairman Ed Chau and Committee members on providing increased access to affordable, accessible and supportive housing for these veterans in addition to finding solutions to the housing needs of other underserved populations."

The Housing and Community Development Committee's jurisdiction includes building standards, common interest developments, homelessness programs, housing discrimination, housing finance, natural disaster assistance and preparedness, redevelopment, and land use planning.

Pérez also appointed Yamada to serve on the newly-established Committee on Local Emergency Preparedness, which will focus on coordination of local emergency resources. Before her election to the Assembly, Yamada represented the Yolo County Board of Supervisors on the Sierra Sacramento Valley Emergency Medical Services Agency (SSV-EMS). She was elected SSV-EMS board chairwoman in 2005 and served in that capacity for two years.

Yamada will continue as chairwoman of the Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care, the Select Committee on State Hospital and Developmental Center Safety and the Select Committee on Sustainable and Organic Agriculture, and as a member of the Assembly Committee on Agriculture, Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife, the Select Committee on Homelessness and the Select Committee on Wine.